Nihon-Ki has three volumes with editions of classic collections of Tsumegos. All of the collections have the problem of one page and the answer on the next page. You do not need to understand Japanese to enjoy them. The first two volumes are selected problems (it is also indicated on what level each problem is from 10-5 kyu to 7 dan).
Those 3 books are so well known that you may find different multiple edition in the same or different countries. Some are mentioned in the SL pages you linked. There are even books of commentaries on the books (I remember one written by Rui naiwei on the guanzi pu).
I just wanted to point out that books edited in Japan are way more expensive as the ones from China although you may prefer some design or have other criteria for your choice (like being familiar with a language, easyness to get them and more)
The Chinese editions may be less expensive to buy in China but I have not found any good Chinese (not even Taiwanese) internet bookstore where you can easily order from abroad, since most Chinese internet stores require the Chinese version of WeChat to pay and you cannot set that up without a Chinese phone number and bank account. Even Taiwanese internet bookstores usually require a Taiwanese phone number to open an account or make an order.
There are a couple of Chinese used bookstores that sell books through Abebooks or American Amazon but the prices are at least four times the original prices plus shipping. The only affordable option I have found is Aliexpress but you can find very few Go books there.
In contrast it is very easy to order from abroad from Japanese Amazon and you get the stuff within a week even if you live in Europe (they send everything with DHL Express) and the prices for Japanese Go books are still more affordable than most Go books in English. Plus I like that the Japanese Go books really fit in your pocket so it is easy to carry them with you and read them on the subway or bus. (I also like the layout of Japense Tsumego books where the problems are usually graded with stars to show how hard they are and the answer is usually on the next page so you can easily use them when you happen to have a little time over).
Okay it seems that you can order a lot of Chinese books through joyabuy with normal Chinese prices (although I do not know what it will be with shipping costs).
I will try to order a collection of life and death problems in five volumes and see how it goes. If there are no problems I will see what Chinese editions of game records and classic tsumego collections listed on Sensei Library can be found.
https://joyabuy.com/ is obvious the best way to order Chinese books to Europe. You can find most Go books that are in print and also used books. The prices and shipping to Europe are much better than the alternative.
Search for “Weiqi books” to get an idea of what is available. You can also copy-paste the Chinese titles from the list of Chinese Go books on Chinese Go Books at Sensei's Library to find the books that are still in print as well as books with similar titles.
It appears that it is more complicated than I thought to get books from China. Apparently there are special restrictions on the export of books from China (mostly books that are printed before 1949 and books that are politically sensitive or deemed to hurt the reputation of China). As a consequence of this several logistic companies refuse in general to handel shipments with books from China. I will see if I am able to get the books I got through Joyabuy to Europe or if this was an exercise in futility.
If your books do actually turn up, then please post some reviews and let us know which ones you’d recommend for which levels of player.
I’ve recently ordered some problem books from Taobao using ParcelUp as the agent. They’ve allegedly shipped to Australia already (it took about a week from ordering to dispatch) and may take another three weeks to get here. Nothing on the ParcelUp web site mentioned any restrictions, apart from “don’t order too much at once or else customs might treat it as a commercial shipment and hold it up”.
I got excited when I saw how cheap the books are, then realised that shipping costs are more then the price of the actual books. But overall, it’s not too bad, as long as things actually do arrive.
Over on the lifein19x19 forums, someone else mentioned books.com.tw, which doesn’t seem to have as big a selection but might be another option.
The problem was that most Chinese internet bookstores required that you had WeChat Pay or at least a domestic phone number to set up an account. Also the Taiwanese internet bookstores I found required that you had a domestic phone number for specific countries or regions (at least Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, etc.) and it was not possible to register an account with a European phone number.
AliExpress works, of course, but they have a very limited selection of books (almost no Go books), which I now realize is because of the export restrictions. I wanted to use DHL, since I know that then there will be no problem but it was stated that my parcel contained prohibited items: Books/CDs and Magnetic Toys (I also ordered a set of Luzhanqi with pictures on the pieces instead of only Hanzi). The same was true for almost all other major logistic firms with the exception of UPS, but I do not like UPS, since several parcels sent through them to me have never been delivered. Now I had to use EMS, which I have never used before. I now really realize that the streanght of AliExpress is their logistic service, since even if it takes time, the parcels are always delivered without any problems, so it is a pity that they do not have more Go books.
Although I find it ridiculously to then avoid handling shipments with books in general due to these restrictions, since Go books can hardly be classified in any of these categories, but I guess that the major logistics companies do not want to risk getting into trouble with the Chinese custom just in case.
